Bowling For Giveness
by The Mysterious Mr. D
Summary: An alternate ending to the episode Boyz Crazy. What if Wendy misinterpreted Dipper's offer after the confrontation with Robbie? While bowling, Dipper and Wendy learn a bit about growing up. Oneshot. Contains mild WenDip!


**Hey everyone! It's been a long while since I written anything, huh? Well I'm back and I changed since then. Some of my ideas may not make it to light, but it's still fun to read. For now, I'm back to practicing writing and tackling one of my favorite shows, Gravity Falls.**

 **This idea came from after seeing the end of _Boyz Crazy,_ specifically after Wendy's official break-up with Robbie. I got the idea from how what Dipper said could be misinterpreted and led to this. I'm a pretty big Wendip shipper and I'm practicing for when I wanna write longer stories.**

 **Critque and comment, everyone!**

 **Gravity Falls was created by Alex Hirsch and owned by Disney, who needs to wise up and give us the series set… or at least release Season 1 as a set first. Give Season 2 some months due to the finale.**

* * *

"Alright, another strike!"

The mildly gruff voice came from a surprising person. Grenda cheered as she performed yet another strike over, putting her team up ahead once again.

"We are crushing you," Candy teased good-naturedly to Wendy and Dipper who were behind once more.

"But you're doing amazing for just two people," Mabel added to them with her usual smile. The three girls were wearing matching bowling sweaters, courtesy of Mabel, as part of her team. Of course, she also made some for the opposing team of Dipper and Mabel, colored green instead.

"Well, not for long you'll be in the league," Wendy said confidently before she looked at Dipper's worried look. He seemed out of it. "Come on, dude. We'll beat them, Your math skills got us some spares," she said.

Dipper returned a sheepish half smile to the redhead before facing the pins.

"Besides, I got money riding on this game. With your brains and Wendy's brawn, you should be able to beat them," Grunkle Stan said gruffly while he sat beside Soos, who was keeping score. It had been a long day for everyone, but this little outing over at Kingpin Karl's Bowling Alley was doing wonders for everyone.

Of course, the whole reason why they were here wasn't exactly a good one. Stanley Pines knew how to read people. A required and valuable skill in being a conman after all. However, you didn't have to be one to see that something was eating Dipper up. "Lighten up, kid. It's gonna be okay…" he muttered to himself, remembering why they were here.

While Mabel and her friends were getting involved with some band, Stan was helping Dipper out against Robbie. The gothy teen was on the verge of being dumped by Wendy before getting a creepy CD out and by playing it, got Wendy back together with him. Dipper, being the suspicious guy he was, looked it over and they discovered the rather creepy message heard when played backwards.

Wendy may have been a slacker, but she was still his employee and cared about her and Dipper really cared about her, leading to confronting him.

Then Dipper did something stupid when offering to go bowling. However, rather than snap, Wendy just seemed confused. Stan, being a seasoned opportunist, stepped in and offered to take them, Soos along with Mabel and her friends to go bowling. Thrown off by her boss' sudden generosity, she accepted it. She didn't have anything better to do.

Moment Robbie was gone and she was heading to the shack, Stan took Dipper aside.

" _Grunkle Stan, what was that about?" Dipper asked, caught off-guard by Stan's sudden offer to Wendy._

 _Stan rolled his eyes before he pinched them. "Look kid, I just saved you from doing something stupid. Before you say anything, look back at what you said," he said to Dipper._

 _Dipper thought back and it took him a moment before his face twisted into one of shock._

" _When a girl gets dumped, you gotta give time to ease back and look over it. Whacha said was probably one of the dumber things you said. You were lucky she took it the wrong way and that let me avoid a mess," he said before seeing Dipper._

 _Dipper didn't meant to insinuate anything and it was something off the tongue, but looking back, the selfishness of his statement made him shudder. His face twisted into one of pain, disgusted with himself._

" _What was I thinking, Grunkle Stan?! Augh, I'm no better than Robbie!" he said as he kicked the ground, shame apparent on his face._

" _Dipper, you're a lot of things, but you're not a jerk like him. Everyone makes mistakes and says selfish things. No one's perfect," Grunkle Stan said, kneeled down and his hand on Dipper's shoulder. "Look, just relax. I made my fair share of mistakes, especially with women," he said before he stood. "Besides, I can try and make some money out of it," he said with a smirk._

 _Dipper felt a bit better, but being a conscious-heavy person, his folly was hanging on his mind…_

Soos was more than happy to join while Mable, Candy and Grenda used it as an opportunity to take their minds off what happened. While everyone was prepping downstairs, Dipper spilled his guts about what happened regarding him and Wendy to Mabel while she knitted the team sweaters up in their room.

" _And that's what happened," Dipper summarized as he laid down on his bed, misery evident on his face._

" _Come on, brobro! It wasn't that bad," Mabel stated in a comforting tone. From a girl's view, she could see how what he said would have been insulting. However, Mabel also went through a lesson in being selfishness, recalling when she and her friends tried to keep_ _Sev'ral Timez in her room. She set them free, not wanting to cage them like their manager did._

" _That's only because Grunkle Stan did damage control," he responded wearily._

 _Mabel knew that this would be eating Dipper up, but she didn't know would be done. "Dipper, it's okay. Look, what's important is that we're all gonna go have fun. We all had a rough day, but we can still end it with smiles," she said, looking over him._

 _Dipper couldn't help but smile back, if just for a bit. Yeah, maybe things would be okay._

" _Okay, now back to your thing. You're saying that Sev'ral Timez were clones?" Dipper asked her, his curiosity replacing his angst as he wanted to delve more into the truth of the boy band._

Thinking about the clones and the ramification of this being used by obnoxious CEOs and such was enough to keep Dipper's mind off of it until they actually reached the bowling alley. After a while, he decided he would tell her. He made a mistake and he needed to make for it, no matter what.

Problem was that by the time they arrived, most of Wendy's aggression had vanished. The positive energy in the air had helped her out and she couldn't remember the last time she went bowling. She grew excited and tension left her.

Dipper screwed up once and he didn't want to bring her down again. "Look dude, we're on the same team," she said as she showed the sweater to him as Mabel gave him his. He could only give an awkward grin at her, forcing his anxiety over everything now. It wasn't the right time.

* * *

It was Wendy and Dipper versus Mabel and her friends, with Soos and Grunkle Stan just watching them while Soos kept score. Grunkle Stan paid for pizza… or rather, the patrons did as he briefly stopped by a change machine a generous donation beforehand.

"All right, it's half-time. Pizza's here and cause Wendy's the one that bowled the special pin to get us the discount, she goes first," Grunkle Stan said as Soos began serving the pizza.

Wendy got up and got her plate, holding for Soos to serve her some pepperoni.

"Glad you're feeling better," her chubby co-worker said. She took a seat in front while the others got their slices.

"Thanks… I actually needed this more than I thought," she mentioned looking back. "This is helping me forget about what Robbie did," Wendy said before she sank back into her chair. "Like, I don't know if what the CD was true or not, but he lied about it," she said, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, that wasn't cool. But why were you breaking with him before?" he asked her.

"He just wasn't a good boyfriend. Not meeting for dates and then there was the time he ditched us back at that abandoned store," Wendy ranted mildly, recalling her first explicit encounter with the supernatural and how Dipper humiliated himself to save them, something she still kept quiet about to this day.

"Yeah… ditching your friends when they need you is uncool. Of course, I can't say that since we ditched Mabel back then," Soos said as he was opening the bottles of pop.

"What are you talking about, Soos?" Wendy asked him, not sure of when she ever ditched Dipper or Mabel.

"There was that time when Mabel ran the shack and it was only when she was acting like Mr. Pines did we stick around. I gotta say, I felt bad afterwards that we were gonna ditch hambone like that and I apologized when I could," Soos explained to her, recalling how it was the first time he saw Mabel snap.

Wendy hissed before she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. She suddenly recalled that. Looking back, it really seemed like a jerk move in hindsight. But she apologized… right?

Wendy bit her lip as she tried to recall if she did for attempting to ditch Mabel only to find she didn't. But that was a one-time thing, right? She didn't do anything like that again.

Unless the one where she kinda ditched Dipper to go with Robbie back at the fair counts…

"Oh man," she said as she took a bite out of her pizza slice. She needed to make it up to Dipper and Mabel when she could. Of course, right now, she was focusing on having fun. She'd make it up to the twins later.

"A strike! First one of the night, brobro!" Mabel cheered, despite her brother being on the opposite team. Dipper himself smiled at being able to apply mathematics to be able to do this. "I got money riding on you, kid," Grunkle Stan supported, in his own way.

"Well, better get back. I got a game to win," Wendy smiled as Soos had the $20 he would probably owe Mr. Pines ready.

"Hey Soos… thanks," she said, smiling at him.

The tournament continued between Team Mabel and Team Dipper as each one used their skills to try and get ahead of the other. Despite the competitive nature at play, the good nature of it all was evident.

Soos was on the edge of his seat in excitement while Stan couldn't help but laugh whenever anyone of them got gutter balls or whenever he decide to taunt any of the other patrons to get a laugh out of the group. Mabel was clearly having a ball while Candy and Grenda were orbiting her in excitement.

The most evident ones having fun were the two people of Team Dipper. Wendy's bitter mood over what happened with Robbie seemed like a distant memory. Her laughter was music to Dipper's ears and her smile captivated him. Despite his guilt having resurfaced every now and then, the whole experience helped relieve some of the tension, especially how Wendy's supportive words helped made sure to get his calculations right and know just how to roll the ball to get the results.

And lead them to victory.

"Team Dipper is the winner!" Soos stated before he happily paid his boss, Stan laughing at it. It was a long time since he went bowling, having not gone since his youth and the feeling of being carefree was one he missed.

"Hooray! Celebration pictures!" Mabel said as she got her camera while Candy and Grenda shoved Dipper and Wendy together for their victory picture. They even got a nice little trophy, courtesy of some extra craft time that Mabel had on her hands.

Dipper's enthusiasm and cheer ended up vanishing though as the group prepped to go back to the Shack. He took several deep breaths. He needed to tell her now… but not here.

"Hey Wendy… um... can I talk to you in private?" Dipper asked her.

"Sure," she replied as she followed him to the corner of the arcade section. Despite her good time, she knew something was eating him ever since they got here.

"What's the matter, dude?" Wendy said. Dipper refused to look at her. He wasn't prepared for this. He didn't know what to say or do. Would she even want to speak with him again? The scenarios just got worse in his mind, but he needed to this.

She deserved to know.

"I'm sorry!" Dipper said, a bit louder than he intended. He grasped at his cap, panic and guilt evident on his face. Wendy wasn't expecting this.

"Dude, what is-?" Wendy began before Dipper began his tirade.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! This is all my fault! Back when we were with Robbie, I didn't meant for all of us to go! It was stupid and selfish and URGH!" he growled as he pulled his hair through his cap, but not finished with his rant. His eyes felt uncomfortably wet; he fought back against the tears as he laid his shame in front of her.

"It was a messed up thing for me to do! I didn't take your feelings into consideration and it was only because of Grunkle Stan that everything went like this! I'm sorry! I was a really big jerk and if you have to be angry at someone, be angry at me! A-and I understand if you want to stop being my friend and you don't wanna talk to me anymore and…" Dipper was silenced when Wendy pressed a finger on his lips.

"Dude, I'm not mad," Wendy said, her face unreadable.

She was not lying. She wasn't mad. It didn't take long for her to realize what he was talking about. Looking back, she probably would've picked up, but she wasn't paying much attention and that's when Stan made his offer. She probably would've been mad. Heck, furious if she caught it the way he intended.

But now… she wasn't mad. While the idea was selfish, having gone bowling with her other family as she grew to see them, made her happier than she had in a while. It certainly beat sulking at home and complaining about boys.

But it was more than that. Her talk with Soos made her realize that she also made some bad decisions, especially toward the twins. Heck, she didn't even notice them at first and just forgot about them. But Dipper… he was apologizing right here and now.

"Look, what you did was messed-up," Wendy began, but she made the motion to let her finish when she saw Dipper flinch. "But… so did I," she said as she sat down next to him. "I was probably wrong to going back with Robbie in the first place, but that's not what I messed up on. Back when I was talking with Soos, I reminded of when I ditched you back at the carnival and when I was about to ditch you and Mabel back when she and Stan made that bet," she began to explain.

"It never really occurred to me about what I did up until tonight and looking back, I was as big a jerk as Robbie she was," she said.

"I only realized it because Grunkle Stan told me," Dipper said as he laid his face in his plams.

"But… why are you telling me this?" she asked him. She wanted to know. She could've gone the whole night and the rest of the summer without knowing. So why did he felt the need to tell her?

"You… deserved to know. I made a mistake and I needed to make for it. It doesn't matter on how things went. What I did was still wrong… and you deserve better that… Better than me," Dipper said, the last part having a double meaning.

"Dude… you deserve better than me," Wendy responded, shocking the Pine twin. She knew he was talking about the massive crush he had on her, though she began wondering if it was more than that.

"I mean, I couldn't picture Robbie being man enough to go and admit he messed up like this. Heck, I didn't do it either. But you did it. That's like, really brave and mature of you, Dipper," Wendy told him, an honest smile on her face. She grabbed his head so she can look at him, the surprise on his face made her smile some more.

"Dude… we both made mistakes. Everyone does, but not a lot of people are brave enough to go and admit it like you did. Heck, I didn't even consider I did anything, but the moment you did… you were gonna do the right thing," she said. Her admiration for Dipper grew. She always saw him as someone mature and never looked down on him, but for the first time, she really took in what that meant.

He was on the verge of crying because he was willing to get his heart broken. He placed her over him… Dipper always did that, she realized. She considered him a close friend and wasn't sure of the feelings he had for her because of the age… but now. She needed to go back home and rethink everything.

She helped him stand up. "Apology accepted. And I need to make it up to you and Mabel for when I ditched y'all," she told him.

"We're still friends?" Dipper asked, overwhelmed by everything.

"What do you think?" she said before she hugged him. He twitched as he felt the girl he fallen for hug him, but he returned it. He loosened up and a great burden was on his shoulders.

"I still wanna make it up to ya since this was more Stan's thing," Dipper said. "We'll figure it out," she said before she and Dipper turned, seeing Mabel with her camera. Dipper's face went red.

"Oh my god, this is the best way to end! With hugs!" Mabel said with her perky smile. "I got it on camera, brobro," she teased, causing Dipper to go even redder whole Wendy laughed, a light blush on her face.

Wendy and Dipper followed her out, to see the others waiting for them. "Thanks for this, you guys. It means a lot," Wendy said to them. "It's nice knowing you have people to count on when things go sour," she said to them, a shyer smile graced her face.

"Yeah, yeah. Just don't be late tomorrow," Grunkle Stan said to her, though he looked relieved at it. He looked to Dipper and then her. As they entered the car, he placed a hand on Dipper once more. "I'm guessing you told her? That's a daring move," he said to him. "But ya went with your heart," he said.

"Thanks Grunkle Stan," Dipper smiled, his heart lighter and he sat next to Mabel in Soos' pick-up truck. Mabel gave him a knowing smile; she'd be wanting an explanation later.

"Yeah, I'm probably gonna take a break from dating for a while. I guess I gotta do some growing up," Wendy noted to them as they went off. "But maybe after a couple of years, I'll do a better job of finding the right guy," Wendy said, having looked at Dipper upon saying so. Dipper laughed sheepishly while he blushed a bit.

After all, after a few years, an age gap didn't matter when it came dating.


End file.
